Written Answers Tuesday 19 May 2009

Scottish Executive

Birds

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to amend the legislation requiring all birds currently listed in Schedule 4 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to be registered and, if so, when it will lay the requisite legislation before the Parliament.

Roseanna Cunningham: I can confirm the Scottish Government intends to amend Schedule 4 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act to reduce the number of bird species that require to be registered. We will retain seven birds of prey on the Schedule, (golden eagle, goshawk, honey buzzard, marsh harrier, white-tailed eagle, Montagu’s harrier and osprey), and we will also retain the peregrine falcon and merlin where they are not otherwise subject to CITES regulations (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species). We aim to bring forward the Order amending the Schedule within the next few months.

Birds

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether breeders of peregrine falcons will be required to register any young produced in 2009.

Roseanna Cunningham: The legislation under the Wildlife and Countryside Act will continue to apply to all species currently listed under Schedule 4 of that act until an amending Order is brought forward for consideration by Parliament. There are no plans to make any Order amending Schedule 4 retrospective in effect.

Birds

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether breeders of peregrine falcons will be required to pay for both the registration of young birds and the new Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species charges.

Roseanna Cunningham: Breeders of peregrine falcons which are subject to both Schedule 4 registration and Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) controls will be required to pay both charges.

Cancer

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage uptake has been of tests for bowel cancer offered to people aged 54 to 75.

Nicola Sturgeon: Data on the number and uptake of symptomatic tests for bowel cancer is not held centrally.

  Data for the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme will be published in August 2009. Data from the Bowel Screening Pilot can be accessed on the Information Services Division website:

  www.isdscotland.org/isd/1696.html.

Crofting

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures Highlands and Islands Enterprise has been asked to take to develop its role in crofting development and what progress has been made.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether all crofting areas in the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) area will be eligible to apply for support from HIE for crofting development.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the crofting development function of Highlands and Islands Enterprise will be administered as part of the Scottish Government’s community account management approach and whether it will outline what community account management is and what benefits this approach will bring to crofting.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether democratic control from crofters will influence Highlands and Islands Enterprise’s crofting development function.

Roseanna Cunningham: Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE)’s approach to crofting community development has two components: Community Account Management, and Crofting Sector Development, which form part of its new Growth at the Edge approach.

  Community Account Management will assist communities with the development and delivery of a Community Growth Plan, prepared by the community in a holistic and integrated manner, which addresses the community’s development opportunities. Where crofting is a significant and important activity, Community Growth Plans will include a crofting development statement. Crofters and Grazings Committees will be encouraged to assist in the preparation of the crofting development statement. Crofters may also develop social enterprises or micro-business developments which are supported under other branches of the Growth at the Edge approach.

  HIE will work with Community Planning Partnerships to identify communities with the most credible potential for growth. The aim of HIE is to target up to 42 communities in its fragile areas over the next three2 years through Community Account Management. HIE’s fragile areas correspond closely with areas where there is a high level of crofting. A Crofting Development toolkit will be developed to assist other crofting communities not benefiting directly from Community Account Management.

  Crofting Sector Development will include activity such as skills development programmes for crofters and the integration of crofting into promotional and development activities in two of HIE’s key growth sectors – Food and Drink and Tourism.

Crofting

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much Highlands and Islands Enterprise has set aside for the purpose of crofting development.

Roseanna Cunningham: On 1 April 2009, crofting community development transferred to Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). The Scottish Government transferred £175,000 per annum from the crofting assistance budget to assist with crofting community development. In total, HIE will invest £1.42 million in the Community Account Management component of Growth at the Edge over the next three years, as well as supporting growth of social enterprises and selected micro businesses in fragile areas, though not all of this will be invested directly in crofting community development.

Crofting

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Highlands and Islands Enterprise will assist with crofting skills development and encouraging new entrants to crofting.

Roseanna Cunningham: Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is involved in a partnership that helps to fund courses such as the Crofting Induction Course and the Highlands and Islands Crofters and Small Landholders Training Programme. Under Highlands and Islands Enterprise’s Crofting Sector Development approach, HIE intends to continue building capacity and, where appropriate, assistance towards skills development.

  The Highlands and Islands Croft Entrants Scheme has closed to new applicants and the Government is considering how support for crofting might better assist new entrants. It has already agreed to introduce a 10% uplift in support from the Crofting Counties Agricultural Grants Scheme (CCAGS) to new entrants to crofting.

Crofting

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Highlands and Islands Enterprise board members are crofters.

Roseanna Cunningham: None of the current Highlands and Islands Enterprise Board members is a crofter.

Crofting

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive to whom crofters should apply in Highlands and Islands Enterprise for assistance with crofting development.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether individual crofters will be able to apply for crofting development support from Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

Roseanna Cunningham: Financial assistance is available to individual crofters through the Crofting Counties Agricultural Grants Scheme (CCAGS) and other elements of the Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP). Support and advice to individual crofters will be available from staff working in the Rural Payments and Inspections Directorate (RPID) area offices throughout the crofting counties.

Crofting

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many instances have been drawn to its attention of landowners and land agents repeatedly challenging minor details of the boundaries of a croft in relation to a crofter’s right to buy.

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what powers and duties the Crofters Commission has to intervene and resolve disputes where landowners and land agents repeatedly challenge minor details of the boundaries of a croft in relation to a crofter’s right to buy.

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider taking action to give the Crofters Commission enhanced powers to intervene when landowners and land agents act to prevent crofters from buying their crofts.

Roseanna Cunningham: Neither the Scottish Government nor the Crofters Commission records details of any enquiries made to them on disputes about boundary issues. These will, however, be few in number.

  The determination of the boundaries of a property is primarily a matter between purchaser and seller. The Crofters Commission has no powers to intervene in disputed croft purchases, and the Scottish Government believes the current regime for resolution of such disputes by the Scottish Land Court to be appropriate.

  In its response to the final report of the Committee of Inquiry on Crofting, the Scottish Government agreed that the responsibility for establishing a definitive new Register of Crofts should be entrusted to the Registers of Scotland. The draft Bill issued for public consultation on 19 May 2009 contains provisions for a definitive new Register of Crofts that will provide greater legal certainty on the extent of, and interests in, a croft. Once a croft has been permanently registered on the new Register, it will not be possible to challenge the boundary of that croft. Provision has been made to allow for the boundary to be contested whilst the croft is provisionally registered on the new Register of Crofts.

Crofting

Alasdair Allan (Western Isles) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to publish its consultation paper on a draft crofting reform Bill.

Roseanna Cunningham: The consultation paper on a draft Crofting Reform Bill will be published later today.

  Copies will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 48142).

Education

Anne McLaughlin (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken to address truancy in schools.

Keith Brown: The Scottish Government wants all children and young people to be included, engaged and involved throughout their education and to make the most of the educational opportunities available to them. In December 2007, we published Included, Engaged and Involved: Part 1.  This guidance focuses on the promotion of attendance and action to reduce absence in schools and highlights the need to make strong links with protection of children.

  The key to prevention of absence and truancy lies in the focus of Curriculum for Excellence to provide a broad and relevant curriculum to all our learners, with flexible learning packages across schools, colleges and other placements which can build capacity across schools and local authorities to make provision for all pupils that best meet their needs and increase the chances of each pupil remaining included, engaged and involved.

Education

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many schools will be offering the baccalaureate examination in the (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11 academic year.

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities will not be offering the baccalaureate examination in any schools in the (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11 academic year.

Keith Brown: There has been a positive response to the Scottish Science and Language Baccalaureates, with over 100 schools and colleges across Scotland expressing an interest in offering the award in their initial implementation years. However, the precise number of schools and local authorities offering the baccalaureates in 2009-10 will not be known until candidate entries for the Interdisciplinary Project are received in December 2009. Numbers for 2010-11 will not be known until December 2010.

Education

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to ensure that pupils from rural areas will be offered the chance to sit the baccalaureate examination.

Keith Brown: The schools and colleges which have expressed an interest in the baccalaureates are drawn from across Scotland, from both urban and rural areas.

  Local authorities are already adopting imaginative solutions to increase access to Higher and Advanced Higher courses, including developing collaborative arrangements between schools and with other establishments, and using new technology such as SCHOLAR and Glow.

  The Scottish Qualifications Authority will be appointing a Scottish Baccalaureate Development Manager to provide additional support to those centres implementing the Scottish baccalaureates in 2009-10. A key role of this post will be to help facilitate partnerships between centres.

Education

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has for the uptake of the baccalaureate examination.

Keith Brown: The Scottish Government does not set targets for the uptake of qualifications. There has been a positive response to the baccalaureates, with over 100 schools and colleges expressing an interest in offering the award in their initial implementation years. It is expected that modest numbers will be involved in the first year (academic year 2009-10) with this growing steadily as baccalaureates become established.

Education

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has put in place to help (a) head teachers and (b) teachers prepare for the introduction of the baccalaureate examination.

Keith Brown: The Scottish Government has funded the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) to develop and support the implementation of the Scottish Science and Language Baccalaureates. As with other National Qualifications, SQA is providing support to all centres who wish to offer the Scottish Science and Languages Baccalaureates, including publishing information on the SQA website and holding support events. SQA will also be appointing a Scottish Baccalaureate Development Manager to provide additional support to those centres implementing the Scottish baccalaureates in 2009-10.

Education

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much financial support has been made available to help head teachers prepare for the introduction of the baccalaureate examination.

Keith Brown: The Scottish Government is currently providing local government in Scotland with £23 billion for the period 2008-10. It is the responsibility of local authorities to set budgets for education, within the overall resources provided to them.

  Two of the National Outcomes agreed in the concordat are that "We are better educated, more skilled and more successful, renowned for our research and innovation" and that "Our young people are successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens". The Scottish Science and Language Baccalaureates can clearly contribute to the delivery of these outcomes.

Healthcare Associated Infection

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail the incidents of Clostridium difficile since the outbreak at the Vale of Leven Hospital was identified in May 2008, broken down by hospital and showing the number of people infected and subsequent fatalities.

Nicola Sturgeon: An incident of Clostridium difficile is defined by NHS boards as (a) two or more linked cases of the same strain of Clostridium difficile in the same clinical area (i.e. ward) or (b) where case numbers breach what is referred to as the statistical upper control limit for a specific clinical area. NHS board infection control teams ensure that all newly identified cases of Clostridium difficile are appropriately managed in relation to the prevention and control of infection.

  The detail of all incidents of Clostridium difficile since May 2008, as provided by NHS boards using the definitions above, are presented in the following table. The dates of those incidents listed have not been included to preserve the anonymity of the patients concerned.

  

 Board
Total Number of Incidents Per Board Area
 Hospital
Numbers of Positive CasesPer Hospital
 Deaths Where Clostridium Difficile Shown As


 Primary Cause
 Contributory Cause


 Ayrshire and Arran
 14
 Ayr
 3
 -
 1


 6
 -
 1


 4
 1
 -


 4
 -
 -


 3
 -
 -


 6
 -
 -


 3
 -
 -


 Ayrshire Central
 3
 -
 -


 Biggart
 4
 1
 -


 Crosshouse
 3
 -
 -


 6
 -
 -


 5
 -
 -


 Davidson
 4
 -
 -


 East Ayrshire Community
 3
 -
 -


 Borders
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Dumfries and Galloway
 1
 Lochmaben 
 3
 -
 1


 Fife
 1
 Queen Margaret
 6
 -
 1


 Forth Valley
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Greater Glasgow and Clyde
 4
 Royal Alexandria
 8
 -
 2


 
 Victoria Infirmary
 5
 -
 3


 
 Gartnavel 
 6
 1
 1


 
 Gartnavel
 5
 -
 -


 Golden Jubilee
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Grampian
 1
 Dr Gray’s Hospital
 17*
 1
 1


 Highland
 1
 Caithness
 7
 -
 2


 Lanarkshire
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Lothian
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Orkney
 1
 Balfour
 6
 -
 2


 Shetland
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Tayside
 3
 Arbroath Infirmary
 3
 -
 -


 
 Ninewells
 11
 -
 -


 
 Perth Royal Infirmary
 6
 -
 -


 Western Isles
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Total
 26
 
 140
 4
 15



  Note: *This is a current outbreak and the number of cases may change from the figure provided.

Identity Cards

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will carry out a study on the viability of using national identity cards for the purpose of voter identification.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government has no plans to consider the use of identity cards for the purpose of voter identification.

Justice

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will reverse the decision not to proceed with the Glasgow community court project in light of the resolution of the Parliament on motion S3M-4065 on Thursday 7 May 2009.

Kenny MacAskill: There are no current plans to reverse the decision not to proceed with the Glasgow Community Justice Centre project. While the Scottish Government accepts that the model has strengths, the high revenue costs of creating and staffing a new court facility did not offer best value for money in the context of the current financial constraints.

  We will work with Glasgow City Council to seek to deliver the aims of the Glasgow Community Justice Centre through mainstream services.

Justice

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Community Justice Project Board to implement the Parliament’s will to progress plans for a community court in Glasgow since the vote on motion S3M-4065 on Thursday 7 May 2009.

Kenny MacAskill: There have been no discussions with the Community Justice Centre Project Board since the vote on motion S3M-4065. Officials are meeting with representatives from Glasgow City Council to discuss the extent to which the potential benefits from the community justice centre may be realised without the requirement for an additional building. This approach was discussed and endorsed by the project board at its final meeting.

Justice

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding allocation for the establishment of a community court in Glasgow is made in the 2009-10 budget and what the estimated costs, both capital and revenue, are to progress the current plans with the Community Justice Project Board.

Kenny MacAskill: As recorded in the Programme Initiation Document, capital funding of £1 million was set aside for the establishment of the Glasgow Community Justice Centre, subject to a robust and deliverable business case for the project being agreed by all the stakeholders. No specific allocation was set aside for revenue costs.

  Initial discussions with Glasgow City Council on how best to take forward key service delivery benefits envisaged in the Community Justice Centre proposal was held on 19 May 2009. No estimate has yet been made of the costs of taking forward this further work.

Justice

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to respond to the request by the Libyan authorities for the transfer of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi.

Kenny MacAskill: The Prisoner Transfer Agreement states that "The requested State shall inform the State requesting the transfer of its decision whether or not to agree to the requested transfer, normally within 90 days of the receipt of the request. If a decision cannot be notified within 90 days of the request, the requested State shall inform the requesting State of the reasons for any delay and use best endeavours to notify the requesting State of its decision as soon as possible."

  Whilst I will deal with this application expeditiously I will consider it thoroughly and will ensure I have all relevant information available to me before reaching decisions.

Police

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many assaults there have been on police officers in the Lothian and Borders Police area in each year since 1999.

Kenny MacAskill: This information is not held centrally.

  The Scottish Government does not hold individualised data on any crimes or offences recorded by the eight police forces in Scotland, and as such does not hold information on the victims of crimes.

  Following the introduction of the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act in 2005, a new crime code (Minor Assault of an Emergency Worker) was created. However, the figures cannot be broken down by category of worker.

  As such it is not possible to identify how many assaults there have been on police officers in the Lothian and Borders Police area in each year since 1999.

Police

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the officer allocation was for each division in Strathclyde Police before the allocation model was recalculated in July 2008.

Kenny MacAskill: Police officer establishments are a matter for police authorities and chief constables.

  The Scottish Government does not hold details of officer allocations at divisional level. Figures on the number of police officers per force are collected on a whole-time equivalent basis each quarter. The figures to 31 December 2008 were published on 3 March 2009 and are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 47838). On 31 December 2008 there were 7,955 police officers in Strathclyde Police.

Police

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new recruits have been employed by Strathclyde Police since July 2008, broken down by division.

Kenny MacAskill: Police officer establishments are a matter for police authorities and chief constables.

  The Scottish Government does not hold details of officer recruitment at divisional level.

  Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland collate force level annual figures on recruitment from Scottish Forces and these are available at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Justice/public-safety/Police/local/15403/Statistical.

Police

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the strength was of Strathclyde police force in May 2008, broken down by division.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the strength is of Strathclyde police force, broken down by division.

Kenny MacAskill: Police officer establishments are a matter for police authorities and chief constables.

  I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-23821 on 19 May 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Police

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how police forces should calculate policing costs for major events.

Kenny MacAskill: It is an operational matter for individual chief constables to decide what they can charge for the policing of major events and to reach agreement with organisers on the total amount to be charged.

Police

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will help the organisers of major events plan for policing costs years in advance.

Kenny MacAskill: It is a matter for individual organisers to consult with the force concerned at the earliest opportunity to ensure that the policing requirements can be fully discussed and costed. For large scale events such as the Commonwealth Games Scottish Executive officials will work with events organisers and the police to facilitate these negotiations.

Police

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that the practice of police forces charging the full cost of policing will not discourage organisers holding major events in Scotland.

Kenny MacAskill: It is an operational matter for individual chief constables to decide what services they can charge for the policing of major events and to reach agreement with organisers on the total amount to be charged. In general forces aim to cover the full costs and we would not expect the cost of policing major events to discourage organisers from holding events in Scotland.

Police

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that costs for policing major events do not vary across police forces.

Kenny MacAskill: It is an operational matter for individual chief constables to decide what they can charge for the policing of major events and to reach agreement with organisers on the total amount to be charged.

Police

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the events for which policing costs are charged.

Kenny MacAskill: This information is not held centrally and is a matter for individual chief constables.

Scottish Government Finance

Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its estimate is of the impact of the anticipated reduction in the Scottish block grant for 2010-11 and 2011-12 announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his recent budget statement, broken down by (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) local authority area.

John Swinney: The UK Budget Red Book confirmed that the Scottish Government’s Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) budget would be reduced by £496 million in 2010-11 in comparison with original spending plans.

  Assuming that this reduction is spread evenly between revenue and capital expenditure it is estimated that it will threaten approximately 9,000 jobs at the national level during 2010-11. Breakdowns by parliamentary constituency and local authority area are not available.